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Āsana Practice: Dwi Pāda Viparīta Daņḍāsana, Arti H. Mehta
Āsana Practice
Dwi Pāda Viparīta Daņḍāsana
Arti H. Mehta
Re-printed with kind permission from Yoga Rahasya (2004) Volume 11, Number 4
“Intensified action brings intensified intelligence” - Guruji BKS Iyengar
“Lie flat on your back. Bend the arms at the elbows and place the palms near the shoulders like Ūrdhva Dhanurāsana. Then raise the trunk up. Rest the crown of the head on the floor and interlock your fingers.”
This is the most simple and basic explanation to do Dwi Pāda Viparīta Daņḍāsana but only very few people like Guruji are able to achieve a Dwi Pāda Viparīta Daņḍāsana, especially in our first few attempts. Most of us may not perform the āsana but end up doing a pose with grunts and groans with all kinds of facial expressions!
In this article, Arti H. Mehta describes the subtle techniques and adjustments to perform Dwi Pāda Viparīta Daņḍāsana which is a compilation of Guruji’s teachings.
There are four legs of the body in Dwi Pāda Viparīta Daņḍāsana, just like a table that is balanced evenly on the floor with the help of its four legs. The two arms with the elbows on the ground and the two legs with the feet on the ground form the four legs. To balance well in the āsana, these four legs have to evenly hold the ground which normally does not happen.
As you start to observe yourself in the āsana, you will find that a ‘hill’ will be formed in the region wherever your thought waves go and a ‘valley’ in the region that is neglected. For example, compare the ‘hill’ formed in the middle of the upper arm that is facing the front (where the thought waves have gone) to the ‘valley’ in the calves on the bottom legs. Feel the flesh from the outer ligament of the knee to the outer thigh to make the bulge in the arm thinner.
© Bobby Clennell The eyes will be seeing but the mind cannot wander when you raise only the consciousness up. You become an introvert in Dwi Pāda Viparīta Daņḍāsana and not an extrovert. The focus of attention needs to be enhanced on certain parts of the body when you do Dwi Pāda Viparīta Daņḍāsana.
Head:
• You lift the head so that the neurons of the brain remain in its position and do not hit the skull. The moment you feel the brain hitting the skull then lift the head from the ground (it goes in) and then redo the pose. • Raise the head up. Open the deltoids capsules to come forward. • Pacifying the brain, take the skull close to the palms.
Elbows:
• Move both the elbows closer and the flesh of the inner elbow (inner forearm and inner head of the elbow) should grip the ground. You will slip if the outer elbow touches the ground. • Raise the buttocks up with the inner elbow. Walk in with the feet and press the elbow down. • Elongate the ligament of the elbow so it does not sleep on the forearm.
Upper arm:
• Do a vertical Tāḍāsana from the top of the inner upper arm to the inner upper armpit so as to get a grip when you are slipping. • Be strong on the fibres of the upper biceps and the deltoids for the elbows to rest on the floor and to avoid slipping when you straighten your legs. • Roll the biceps from outside inwards. Turn the skin of the biceps from the outside in. • Raise the head up in the air and move the deltoids forward and then place the crown of the head on the floor.
Fingers:
• When you interlock your fingers the mounts of the fingers get compressed. This compression is more in Dwi Pāda Viparīta Daņḍāsana than in
Śīrṣāsana. The mind should never be lost from the mount of the fingers.
Side ribs:
• Place the palms near the shoulders like in
Ūrdhva Dhanurāsana. Bring your intelligence on your side ribs. • Creating space on the side ribs, raise the trunk and place the head on the floor. Charge your side ribs to move upwards and then interlock your fingers. The side ribs should remain alert.
Floating ribs:
• Raise the floating ribs up when you interlock the fingers. The back floating ribs should be closer to the frontal floating ribs. • The back floating rib is the base. Don’t move the top floating ribs. Move the base first then interlock your fingers. Stabilize your arms.
• When you suddenly move your legs back the floating ribs drop. Charge the back of the floating ribs up to straighten your legs.
Chest:
• Open the top chest towards the bottom chest.
Walk in and increase the height of the trunk. • Don’t protrude the chest. If the chest comes forward too much then it means that the tailbone is not ascending. Ascend the tailbone then the chest will remain in a perpendicular position. • Enhance the flow of intelligence from the chest to the pubis by lifting the bottom thigh muscles. • From the armpit of the chest (not the armpit of the arm) ascend the chest about half an inch more.
Disc of the consciousness:
• Measure the height of the disc of consciousness (emotional centre) from the floor. The disc of consciousness tends to drop down when you straighten the legs. The rays of the sun cannot touch the earth if there are clouds in the sky.
Similarly, if your mind is clouded then the rays from the disc of consciousness cannot reach the feet, which are on the floor. So do not allow yourself to sink. Maintain the height of the disc of consciousness when you straighten the legs.
Buttocks:
• Release the buttock away from the tailbone by rolling the outer sides of the knees in. • Raise the outer buttock (not the centre) to the maximum through your intelligence. If you lift in this manner then you will not get any backache. • The buttocks must be separated from the centre (tailbone) as you stay in the āsana and also when you come down.
Tailbone:
• With the bottom thigh muscles, circularize the tailbone. The tip of the tailbone should move towards the navel. Maintaining this grip move the legs back.
Legs:
• The energy should move up towards the ceiling and not down to stretch out your legs. • Press the heel and move the pelvic girdle to come closer to the chest. Then your legs are closer to the heart. • Don’t touch the spine when you have to straighten the legs. The outer buttock should be higher than the middle buttock. • Walk back with your legs by maintaining the height of the trunk. If the trunk drops, don’t go beyond.
“Educate and connect one part with the other. Move the bottom knee close to the heart, top knee close to the heart, middle of the thigh close to the heart. Then when this comes, it is a sign that the legs can go out a little more, the closeness should be maintained.” “Turning the knees out is not Viparīta Daņḍāsana; turning the knee in is Viparīta Daņḍāsana.”
Groins:
• Lift the tendons of the groins to bring out the legs one at a time.
Thighs:
• Educate the bottom thigh muscle by allowing the skin to feel the flesh. Maintain the contact.
That is the gripper to make your leg straight. • Circularly roll the thighs in. • Broaden the back of the thighs.
Knees:
• There are three locks in the āsana. One lock is at the elbows, the other lock is at the wrists and the third is at the knee. • Lock the knee like Trikoņāsana by lifting and stretching from the back of the inner knee ligament to the inner back thigh. • Do Tāḍāsana on the inner top corner of the knee in Dwi Pāda Viparīta Daņḍāsana. • Lock there and move the intelligence in that region. • Suck the ligament of the knee into the knee.
Bottom legs:
• The energy from the bottom leg should go towards the ceiling and not towards the foot.
Calf muscles:
• Broaden the calf muscles. Do not narrow them. • Turn the inner calf muscles towards the outer heel so that the big toe grips the ground.
Feet:
• Let all the corners of the ten toes touch the floor. Then you get Tāḍāsana of the legs. • Slightly spread the feet apart and roll the metatarsal in towards the ground for the legs to roll in. These adjustments will help us progress from doing a backward bending pose to a Dwi Pāda Viparīta Daņḍāsana.
Compiled from Guruji’s teachings during his 80th birthday celebrations and the Silver Jubilee celebrations of the Ramamani Iyengar Memorial Yoga Institute.
